Inadequate bank robber leaves behind a note with his name on it

The attempt to rob a Florida branch of Chase was full of basic design flaws (Photo: BLOOMBERG).

We have a new contender for Biggest Doofus of 2014: Mr Felipe Cruz of Pompano Beach, Florida. On April 10, he tried to rob the local branch of the Chase bank. He walked in, approached a teller and handed her a note that read: “Give me the 100s 50s 20s now. Do not set the alarm. Hurry!!!” So far, so competent. But then things started to go horribly wrong.

Mr Cruz’s first mistake was to make his threat to a teller sitting behind bulletproof glass – she simply backed away from the window and refused to hand over any money. Our hero panicked and ran away. That was bad enough, but his second – incredibly unforced – error was to leave the note with his demands on it behind. Turning the note over revealed that it was written on the back of an online job application form containing Mr Cruz's username (CRUZFELIPE36) and a password. With a dash of sarcasm, the FBI stated: “By trying to rob a bank with a demand note written on the back of his employment search form, the robber has given us a clue. He probably should have continued looking for honest work.” Genius.

- A German who raided a bank and took someone hostage with a toy gun, only to discover that the bank had vacated the premises 17 years earlier and he was actually holding up a physiotherapy centre.

- The history teacher who robbed his own local bank in South Philadelphia … and returned a few minutes later to deposit the stolen money into his account.

- Or Arthur Brundage of Syracuse, New York who demanded $20,000 from a teller. When he counted the cash at home, he found it was a bit short. So he returned to the scene of the crime to ask for the rest of money – and the cops were waiting.